The Midnight Path
by Mythique
Summary: Every choice has its consequence. Jarrah did not run away and Breakdown remains with the Decepticons. What happened? And will Soundwave get what he wants after all? A 'what if' companion piece to TLWH and SCKL set in my 'Sacred Circle' universe.
1. After the Fire

**A/N - this is a 'what if' story set in my Sacred Circle universe. It is not a sequel. In it, Jarrah decided not to fake her own death, but instead moved to Oregon with the Autobots. Breakdown and Knock Out remain with the Decepticons.**

* * *

Jarrah sat and watched the Autobots as they hurried about their new base. She had found herself a nice perch on a sun-dappled boulder on one of the hills surrounding the new base. Oregon was beautiful, and there was plenty of space for the Autobots and humans to live in comfort and relative peace.

Jarrah Delaney was officially dead. Her new identity was Alita Hyde, a recently graduated primary school teacher, who had secured a job in a nearby town. The new identity and job were serving as wonderful distractions from the horrible loneliness Jarrah felt after leaving the _Nemesis _and Breakdown.

Well, they _had _been a distraction...until Jarrah overheard Jazz telling Prowl and Prime about how Breakdown had witnessed Jarrah's house exploding, and how the Con had frantically searched the rubble for any sign of his human mate. Now Jarrah was an emotional wreck, struggling to process this information and maintain a calm façade. The last thing she wanted was Ratchet or Jazz fussing over her.

Jarrah didn't know how to feel about Breakdown's actions. One moment she was happy that he'd finally come looking for her, the next she was furious that he'd taken so long. Then she'd get upset that Jazz had kept the information from her. It was exhausting.

With a sigh, Jarrah stood and moved deeper into the woods, but no matter how far she went, she couldn't escape the happy noises of her friends or her own emotions. They were oppressive. She needed to escape, to go somewhere truly private, where she could safely vent her frustrations.

She was not supposed to leave the base without letting the Autobots know where she was going and for how long. Most of the time, one of the Autobots would accompany her. Jarrah didn't like breaking the rules, but she figured that what the Bots didn't know wouldn't hurt them.

Jarrah's first thought was to return to Jasper, but she quickly dismissed the idea. Not only was Nevada full of painful memories, it was also too dangerous. There was a chance that the Faceless Men were still monitoring the area, hoping to catch any of Jarrah's Sacred Circle friends. There was also the risk of being spotted by someone she used to know.

She decided to go to Africa instead; to the place she'd first kissed Breakdown. It was a safe place. A place where she could be alone and mull things over in solitude.

Or so she thought...

* * *

The first thing Jarrah noticed was the heat: it was scorching. She knew she wouldn't be able to stay long, not without water. If she ever came here again, she'd have to remember to bring supplies.

The ground felt harder under her feet than before, as she walked past the spot where Breakdown had crash tackled her. She settled underneath a small tree, sighing in appreciation of the cool shade. For a moment she looked out at the savannah almost unaware of the view before her. She enjoyed a brief sense of emotional numbness before grief, anger, and pain surged through her.

Jarrah screamed and dug her fingers into the earth beside her. Tears flooded her cheeks, and it wasn't long before she was curled up and beating the ground with impotent rage. So loud, so _violent, _was her outburst that she did not notice the blue-green flash of a ground bridge opening, or feel the vibrations of a Cybertronian walking towards her.

"Jarrah?" a voice asked her. "Sweetspark?"

She almost didn't hear his voice; she was so lost in her emotions. But after he repeated her name several times, she looked up. At first Jarrah questioned what she was seeing, dismissing it as an illusion. Then she tentatively reached out her hand and, feeling the warm metal, accepted the truth. "Breakdown?"

"Yeah, Sweetspark, it's me."

Silently, Jarrah got to her feet, her eyes never leaving Breakdown's. Seconds bled into minutes, and nothing was said or done. Then Jarrah began to yell. She screamed at him for abandoning her, of playing with her heart. No thought, no feeling, went unspoken. The ranting only ended when Breakdown activated his holoform and embraced her, holding her tightly to his chest. When she was silent, he kissed her. And then they spoke, not with words, but with their bodies, and their conversation was sweet and full of joy.

* * *

"So you won't come with me?" Breakdown demanded angrily.

"You can't expect me to return to the _Nemesis_," Jarrah said. "Megatron will kill me! If not him, then Soundwave." Breakdown growled and kicked over a tree.

"I'll protect ya! I'll keep ya safe!" he declared.

"You can't protect me from Megatron," she said, and winced as Breakdown growled again, offended that she thought him unable to protect her.

"Ya belong with me!"

"Then why don't _you _come back with _me_?" Jarrah asked. Breakdown scoffed.

"And join the Autobots?" he sneered. "Like that'd work!"

"You could try! Or go neutral!"

"Neutral!" Breakdown actually sounded offended. "I'm no coward!"

The argument had lasted a long time. Breakdown wanted Jarrah to join him on the _Nemesis, _while Jarrah wanted him to leave the Cons. Neither one was backing down, or making the obvious compromise. It would have lasted a lot longer had they not been interrupted by another ground bridge opening near them. Forgetting his anger, Breakdown assumed a defensive stance, holding Jarrah to his spark.

Megatron and Soundwave stepped out. They did not say anything. Megatron just smirked at Jarrah while Soundwave gave her a sharp mental poke. Jarrah gasped. She looked at Breakdown. "Are you going to return with them?" she asked. Breakdown nodded jerkily.

Megatron's smirk widened. "You're welcome to join him," he said. "I will give you one more chance to swear loyalty to me."

Jarrah groaned and shook her head. Once more she looked to her beloved. He averted his gaze, an action that caused her more pain than any other. "Then I guess this is goodbye," she said sadly, and kissed his chassis. Breakdown said nothing.

Jarrah orbed away.

Oregon felt so cold.

* * *

Next chapter: Jarrah has a chat with Knock Out. He has some unwelcome news.


	2. Airachnophobic

Time passed and Jarrah learnt how to deal with her breakup with Breakdown. She didn't forget him, and she certainly didn't stop loving him, but she had learnt to harden her heart against the pain. She had accepted that, sometimes, love just wasn't enough.

Jarrah still saw Breakdown on the battlefield. At first she would try to fight Breakdown, hoping that he would give up and come with her. It didn't work; Breakdown usually just picked her up and gave her to the closest Autobot, or threw her off the field. Gradually, Jarrah was the one who gave up. She no longer confronted him, and concentrated instead on looking after the kids while their guardians fought.

When the war entered one of its quiet periods, Jarrah returned to the African savannah. She loved coming here to sit and meditate, or to think back on happier times. One day, as she was preparing to return to Oregon, a ground bridge opened in front of her. Her heart nearly burst in anticipation, expecting Breakdown to walk through. Even after all that had gone wrong, she still longed to see him.

But it was not Breakdown who appeared.

"Knock Out?" Jarrah asked in surprise. "What are you doing here?"

Knock Out looked at Jarrah without speaking. He didn't smirk at her like he usually did, and his optics were cold and distant. He activated his holoform. "I have something for you, Jarrah," he said, and his voice sounded strange. He was reserved, and not at all like the cocky bastard Jarrah had grown so fond of. He held his hand out to her.

Jarrah reached out and took the small item from Knock Out's hand. She looked down at it; it was the amethyst ring that Knock Out had made for her on Breakdown's behalf while she had been living on board the _Nemesis. _"My ring? I thought Breakdown was carrying this."

"He was," Knock Out replied. "He no longer has a use for it."

"No longer has a use for it!" Jarrah repeated, shocked. "What, has he abandoned me for good this time? Has he already moved on? With Airachnid, perhaps?" Jarrah was surprised by how bitter she sounded. She was even more surprised by the look of anger that crossed Knock Out's face at the mention of Airachnid.

"He's moved on," Knock Out hissed, "just not in the way you think."

Jarrah was confused. What was Knock Out trying to tell her? "Knock Out, what's going on?" she demanded.

"He's dead," Knock Out growled. "That fragger Airachnid deactivated him."

Jarrah froze. She looked at Knock Out, eyes welling with tears, even as her heart denied the truth of what he had told her. "Wh...what?"

"Breakdown is deactivated," Knock Out said. He made no move to comfort her. He just stood there as Jarrah's mouth opened and closed uselessly.

Jarrah's heart was in agony and she felt as if every bit of oxygen had been squeezed out of her body. She did not move. She did not speak. _Breakdown...no, no, no! _After a few minutes the strength in her legs gave out and she collapsed to the ground with a soft 'thump'. Her hands tore at her hair, and then at her chest, as if she was trying to gouge her heart out. She began to cry, her tears soaking the parched African soil. She threw her head back and screamed.

She kept on screaming until her voice gave out.

* * *

"How did it happen?" Jarrah asked when she had reached a level of grief that was beyond tears. Knock Out regarded her warily. He had, rather surprisingly, stayed with Jarrah throughout the most violent part of her grieving, and was now allowing her to use him as a pillow. He was not happy about it, but he had promised Breakdown he'd look out for the organic femme, and it was a promise he intended to keep. Just this once.

"Megatron sent Dreadwing and Breakdown on an assignment...to kill Airachnid," he said.

"Why couldn't Megatron do his own dirty work?" Jarrah asked angrily. "Don't tell me the mighty leader of the Decepticons is Airachnaphobic?"

"He is not a stupid mech," Knock Out explained. "He knew that if he went, Airachnid would have realized what was going to happen. So he sent others instead. Unfortunately, he forgot that Airachnid is far more clever than she lets on. That femme knew what was going on before they even left the ship.

"She was also smart enough to realize that she would not be able to defeat the two of them in a fair fight. So, she goaded Breakdown into attacking her, incapacitated Dreadwing, led Breakdown into a trap and...well, you know the rest."

"Yes," Jarrah responded, "I do know. He always did have such a quick temper." She sighed. "What happened to his body? Can we have a funeral?"

"We never found his remains. Your ring was the only thing left behind to mark where he deactivated," Knock Out said. "We do not know where, or even why, Airachnid took his frame."

"That fucking bitch!" Jarrah snarled, startling the mech beside her. He was about to reply when he was summoned back to the _Nemesis _by Dreadwing.

"I have to go, Jarrah," Knock Out said. "Will you be able to make it home on your own?"

"Yes," Jarrah replied numbly. "Thank you, Knock Out, for telling me about Breakdown." She kissed him on the cheek. Knock Out looked uncomfortable.

"Yes, well," he said awkwardly, dismissing his holoform. A ground bridge appeared, and, with a quick glance back at Jarrah, Knock Out departed.

Jarrah watched him go, then contemplated the ring she was now wearing on her left ring finger. "Breakdown," she said, "how did it come to this?"

* * *

By the time Jarrah returned to Oregon, it was midnight. She stopped briefly to inform Optimus of Breakdown's death. He and Elita were very sympathetic, but sympathy was not what Jarrah wanted.

No, her heart cried out for vengeance.

After bidding Optimus and his bondmate goodnight, Jarrah went to her room and dug something out of her wardrobe. It was a full set of leather body armor, her uniform from her days with the Sacred Circle. With all the magical charms on it, it was the only thing that had survived the destruction of her house.

Jarrah dressed and wrote a note explaining her intentions and left it for her best friend, aunt, and cousin. Then she left her rooms and headed for Arcee's quarters.

It took several minutes of heavy knocking before Arcee woke up and opened her door. When she saw Jarrah, and what she was wearing, she looked quizzical. "Jarrah? What's up?"

"Airachnid killed Breakdown," Jarrah said bluntly, fighting back tears. Now was not the time to lose control. She had more important things to do. Like track down a giant metal spider and rip her legs off one by one.

"Frag!" Arcee swore. She knew that Jarrah had never given up hope of being reunited with the Con somehow. "I'm sorry, Jarrah, what can I do?"

"You can help me," Jarrah declared. "Nobody but you can possibly know how I feel right now, and no one else knows Airachnid like you do."

Arcee studied Jarrah intently. "What are you suggesting?"

"I'm not suggesting anything," Jarrah replied. "I'm _saying_ I'm going on a spider hunt, and I'd like you to join me. One way or another, that bitch is going down."

"You sure you want to do this?"

Jarrah nodded. "I've never been more serious about anything."

"Optimus will not like this."

"With all due respect to Optimus; I don't care."

Arcee considered Jarrah's proposal. On the one servo, she was extremely reluctant to do something that would disappoint Optimus. On the other servo, she'd been waiting to get revenge on Airachnid for millennia. Ever since the Con had deactivated Tailgate. So also knew that whatever she decided to do, nothing was going to deter Jarrah from achieving her goal. And Jarrah would need help.

Arcee sighed as she made her decision. "Wait here while I go get supplies. Airachnid is hard to find, so the hunt may take a while, and it's not like we'll be able to come back to base to restock. We'll leave in fifteen minutes."

"Okay," Jarrah said, happy that she would have help in her quest. As Arcee headed off to the supply rooms, Jarrah raised her ring to her lips and kissed it. "I'm coming, Airachnid, and I will show no mercy. This I solemnly swear."

* * *

**A/N - **I had originally planned to end the story here, but after thinking about it, I've decided to keep going. Poor Breakdown. Stupid Airachnid. As you may have already guessed, this story is going to be a bit darker than my other ones. If you haven't read SCKL and TLWH, I suggest you take a quick read through, as you will probably end up confused otherwise.

Next Chapter - Arcee and Jarrah head off on their adventure, and the Autobots are not happy when they find out about it.


	3. The Beginning of the End

**A/N – sorry about the delay, but grad school and medical issues have been kicking the crap out of me and my family these past few months. Now that it is summer, I shall be updating more often. I also need to catch up on about three quarters of season two of Prime. **

* * *

Optimus was beginning to worry. It was almost midday and Arcee had not yet reported for duty. Blaster had been unable to contact her via comm link, nor was he able to pinpoint her location using her life signal. It was as if the femme had disappeared off the face of the earth.

Because Jarrah was also missing, Optimus figured that the two friends were probably together. He was glad that the human femme had someone with her to help her through what was a horrible situation. Due to the special circumstances, he was willing to let Arcee's absence slide for a while, but as the hours passed and communication with Arcee failed, Optimus grew more and more concerned.

His first thought was that they had travelled to Africa, to the place that had great significance for Jarrah. Jazz, the only Autobot besides Arcee to know its exact location, went there to bring them back. But the two femmes were not there, and that was when Optimus became seriously worried.

Optimus called June to ask if she knew where her niece was. The answer was 'no'. Neither Jack, nor Raf, nor Miko knew either. It was a mystery.

There was, however, one person who _did _know the whereabouts of Jarrah and Arcee – Jarrah's best friend, Tabitha. She'd found Jarrah's note, and kept it hidden from Jack and June. Why? Because Jarrah had asked them to keep her and Arcee's plan a secret, and Tabitha knew that the others would not do so. June would flat out refuse to, and Jack, for all his loyalty to his partner, would cave in after one good stare from Optimus. Rare was the person who could withstand Optimus' disappointed face.

Since Tabitha knew she was probably not one of those people, she'd stonewalled the Bots once they started asking questions about her friends' absence. She'd left the base as soon as she'd read the note, and was screening her calls. She knew she'd have to speak to the Bots eventually, but Tabitha was holding out as long as she could. She hoped she could come up with a plausible cover story.

What Tabitha didn't realise was that while she could refuse to answer her phone, the phone itself could be used to track her down. The Autobots were quite good at doing so. So when Tabitha was pulled over in the late hours of the afternoon for speeding, she had no idea that the handsome, young police officer she proceeded to try and work her charms on was, in fact, Prowl.

* * *

Most Bots, and humans for that matter, thought him to be a dry, humourless mech. This was not the case. Prowl had a keen appreciation for the humour of others. He just happened to take his job seriously, and felt like he needed to set a good example for his subordinates…and, occasionally, his Prime. That didn't mean he couldn't let his hair down once in a while -metaphorically speaking, of course.

Like now, for instance.

Tabitha was doing her best 'sexy lady' routine, fluttering her eyelashes, pouting, and drawing attention to her ample bosom. "I'm so sorry, Officer," she said breathlessly. "I had no idea I was speeding, and by so much! But if you let me off with a warning, I _promise _I'll be a good, law-abiding citizen from now on." Flutter flutter smile.

"I'm sorry, Ma'am," Prowl deadpanned, "but I'm going to need to see your driver's licence." He smirked as Tabitha frowned sulkily and reached for her purse.

"Fine," she huffed, handing Prowl her licence. She glared at him as he walked away, his 'radio' raised to his lips.

Prowl let the woman stew for a few minutes before heading back to her car. He put on his extra-serious, dealing-with-the-twins face, and rested his hand on his gun. He opened the car door, ignoring Tabitha's soft gasp of surprise. "I need you to step out of the vehicle, Ma'am."

"What the hell for?" Tabitha demanded, complying with Prowl's request.

"There's a warrant out for your arrest. Grand theft auto," Prowl said, forcing Tabitha against the side of her car and frisking her.

"What?!" shrieked Tabitha, outraged. "I'm no thief! This is crazy! You've made a mistake!"

"I've heard that before, Ma'am," Prowl replied, his lips quirking almost unnoticeably as he guided Tabitha onto his backseat. "_If _there is a mistake, we can sort it out at the station."

Prowl made sure to take a recording to share with Jazz as Tabitha became completely unglued. She ranted and raved for the entire journey, displaying such a thorough knowledge of human profanities that Prowl couldn't help but be impressed. She was so enraged that she failed to notice Prowl's internal Autobot insignias. She didn't even pause for breath when Prowl turned off the highway and headed into the Autobot base.

In fact, she was so absorbed in her own rage that it wasn't until she was standing in the base's main building that she realised anything was amiss. When she finally did so, she paused, a comment about the officer's prowess in bed dying on her lips as reality dawned on her. She looked at Prowl's holoform with a surprised look on her face; a look that soon became nonplussed. She glared at him, and at the few Autobots who'd seen the commotion and wanted to know what was going on.

"You bastard," Tabitha said accusingly. Then she had the good grace to throw her head back and laugh in appreciation at Prowl's prank and her own stupidity.

"We need to know where Jarrah and Arcee are," Prowl said, well aware that if anyone knew where the two missing femmes were, it would be Tabitha.

"Oh, all right," Tabitha said, wiping the tears of laughter from her cheeks. "But you're not going to like it."

* * *

Arcee and Jarrah were in Connecticut; in the small wooded grove where Airachnid had ambushed and murdered Breakdown. They figured it was the most logical place to start the hunt for the spider bot. It also gave Jarrah a chance to pay her last respects to her lost love and grieve.

Jarrah didn't think she actually had any tears left to shed, but when got to the small rocky outcrop where Breakdown had died, she found plenty more of them. She could see faint scratch marks in the earth from where Airachnid had dug in some of her clawed limbs. A few strands of her webbing hung from the trees, waving languidly in the soft breeze. There were faint outlines on the ground, perhaps where Breakdown had stood…or where he fell.

Arcee watched as Jarrah cried her heart out. She could not find it in her spark to share the human's grief, but she was compassionate enough to be respectful and allow her friend the chance to mourn. After all, grief was no stranger to Arcee.

When Jarrah's grief had subsided, she'd laid a few flowers against the stones, spoken a few words under her breath, and then stood shakily. She wiped her eyes with the back of her hand and sniffed. "What now?"

"Well, I can see where Airachnid went," Arcee said, pointing to a hole in the ground. The edges of the hole were surrounded with piles of dirt, indicating that it had been caused by something burrowing into the earth, and fairly recently. The pair walked over to it and looked down. It was dark, and several metres wide.

"Lux!" Jarrah commanded, waving her hand in the air. A small ball of light appeared in front of her., which she then directed into the tunnel. The tunnel dropped sharply for a few metres then appeared to straighten out.

"Stay here while I check if it's stable enough for you down there," Arcee said. Jarrah nodded, watching silently as Arcee disappeared. The blue and pink femme was gone for a few minutes, and then reappeared at the hole's entrance.

"It looks safe enough," Arcee said. "Do you need a servo?"

"No, I'm good," Jarrah replied. She took a deep breath and summoned a mana platform under her feet. It was a solid square of magical energy, strong enough to handle Jarrah's weight and completely under her control. It had the added bonus of providing a light source, albeit a very dim, very pink light.

Jarrah slowly descended into Airachnid's escape tunnel, She looked at Arcee. "Lead on, McDuff."

* * *

The tunnel was long, it was dark, and it smelled like shit. Jarrah was oblivious to it all. She was focussed on one thing and one thing only. Airachnid. Her fury was giving her the energy to keep on moving, but had given her tunnel vision. Arcee could've vanished and Jarrah would not have noticed.

Arcee gave a sigh. "Well, that's one benefit of being so far underground," she said with obvious relief. "No radio signal," she added, seeing Jarrah's confused look. "Blaster's been comming me every fifteen minutes since I was due to start my shift. He's gotten a little pissy about me ignoring him, so he's been bombarding me with horrible songs, what you humans call 'power ballads'. I do not like this Celine Dion person."

"Oh, ouch," Jarrah said, and a small smile lit up her face for a moment. "At least it wasn't the Song That Never Ends."

The two friends fell into silence once more as the tunnel took a sudden turn to the left. It narrowed slightly before opening up into a large cavern. A few energon cubes were stacked behind a boulder, and spider webs were hanging from the ceiling. Arcee tensed and Jarrah made a sharp intake of breath.

"Bingo," Arcee said. Her companion nodded, but frowned. "Jarrah?"

"This doesn't feel right," Jarrah said, a sharp, crawling sensation running up her spine. "It's too easy…too neat." She felt her instincts kick up an internal storm. This was bad…very bad. She heard the soft tumbling sound of rocks being disturbed, and a muffled grunt. She spun around. "Arcee?"

But Arcee wasn't there.

"Shit!" Jarrah swore. They'd walked right into a trap. She backed up quickly, heading for the darkness of the tunnel, but before she got very far a flash of white caught her eye. With a startled cry, Jarrah found herself flying backwards. She careened into the cavern wall, her head smacking into a protruding rock. She tried to raise a hand to her throbbing head but found herself rendered immobile by sticky webbing. "Airachnid!" she snarled weakly.

A quiet, mocking laugh was the only response.

* * *

Next chapter: it's the bitch fight to end all bitch fights, and Jarrah's relationship with her family and the Autobots deteriorates.


End file.
